Sign with changeable characters



Oct. 29, 1968 J. P. CONNELL SIGN WITH CHANGEABLE CHARACTERS Original Filed Jan. 13, 1964 James I? Came/l INVENTOK.

United States Patent 3,407,525 SIGN WITH CHANGEABLE CHARACTERS James P. Connell, N. 6th Ave., Yakima, Wash. 98902 Continuation of abandoned application Ser. No. 337,413, Jan. 13, 1964. This application Mar. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 552,654

1 Claim. (Cl. 140) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sign including a corrugated backing panel and a plurality of rectangular, transparent, fiat plates received within horizontally extending, groove-defining members, the rectangular, transparent plates having a character placed on the rear surface of each plate, the character comprising the two-tone prismatic formed by painting and displaying a plane character presenting a three dimensional effect, the grooves of the upper mounting mem her being deeper than the grooves of the lower mounting member to facilitate insertion and removal of the plates.

This application is a continuation of my copending application, Ser. No. 337,413, filed Jan. l3, 1964 now abandoned.

This invention relates to a novel sign characterized by a backing panel and changeable characters, (e.g., letters) wherein the cooperating component parts are structurally distinctive and cooperate in providing a unique sign construction which is strikingly attractive to the viewer.

Briefly, the sign comprises a rigid backing panel made of durable moldable sheet plastic material provided on its front or obverse surface with a pair of upper and lower grooved or channeled strip members. These members provide cooperating tracks for quick-changeable readily applicable and removable plates, each plate prominently displaying a predetermined character (e.g., a letter).

To the ends desired, the track-forming groovesare coplanar and open toward and face each other in spacedapart parallel relationship. The top or upper groove is deeper than the bottom groove and the charactered plate or letter is proportional and can be quickly inserted or removed. Accordingly, the letters or plates can be bodily taken out and replaced without having to slide them in from the ends of the grooves or tracks.

The component parts are made of highly durable specially selected Uvex plastic material which lends itself to a desirable construction of the herein disclosed sign. The letter plates are self-spacing, made for compactness and convenience with respect to systematic handling and storage and when properly installed are rarely, if ever, blown off or otherwise accidentally displaced.

In carrying out the invention the character or letter appearing on the transparent plate affords the viewer an easy-to-read prismatic or third-dimension effect which is both vivid and effective.

Then, too, the invention features mounting rectangular charactered' transparent plates in accessible tracks fixed horizontally across the vertically corrugated translucent panel wherein each plate has its letter or character preferably applied on the back thereof by a silk screen process wherein an ink or paint is forced through the meshes of the silk screen on which the desired character is imposed and wherein by applying heavy and light portions a prismatic or third dimension effect is achieved.

The general objective of the over-all concept is to provide a simple, practical and economical sign construction of the type above described and which aptly and effectively serves the purposes for which it is intended to be used.

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These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the improved sign constructed in accordance with the invention and showing a fragmentary portion of the panel and tracks and a single charactered-plate and the manner in which it is constructed and used;

FIGURE 2 is a section on the vertical line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section on the line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a view in perspective and on a smaller scale illustrating the character carrying insertable and removal plate.

Referring now to the views of the drawing the main or .principal support member comprises a backing panel which is denoted by the numeral 6. This panel is made of strong and durable plastic material which is preferably but not necessarily, translucent and embodies vertically disposed parallel corrugations, V-shaped ribs or the like. The changeable character carrying and display insert is denoted by the numeral 10. It comprises a substantially fiat-faced transparent plastic plate 12. The complemental or companion plates (not illustrated) are the same in construction as the plate 10. While but a single plate is shown it is sufficient to enable the reader to obtain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the over-all concept. The character (letter, numeral, design or the like) is denoted generally by the numeral 14. The character is preferably applied by a silk screen process wherein a suitable ink, paint or equivalent media is forced through the meshes of a silk screen (not shown) on which the desired character is imposed. When properly applied, the finished letter or character achieves the desired embossed third-dimension effect. With reference to FIG. 1 the heavy shaded fine lines 16 designate the desired dark-shade effect and the stippled surfaces 18 delineate the intended contrasting half-tone prism effect. As is evident from FIG. 1, for example, the letter A is typical of the desired character and serves to pictorially present the prismatic or third dimension effect. As is apparent from the diagonal shading applied to the transparent plate in FIGS. 1 and 4, the character is preferably placed on the rear face of the transparent plate. The upper and lower edge portions 20 and 22 are straight across and parallel and the vertical length of the panel is such that it is readily and removably mounted in the supporting tracks, that is an upper track 24 and a complemental lower track 26. Each track, like the panel and plate, is molded from clear plastic material, e.g., Uvex plastic, which has proved experimentally to accomplish the result desired. Each track is substantially T-shaped in crosssection, the short rib portion 28 thereof being integrated with the rearward side or face of the complemental member 30. These two members or tracks 24 and 26 are of suitable length and extend across the front face of the corrugated backing panel in coplanar spaced-apart parallel relationship. The main or outwardly facing part is also referred to herein as an elongated strip member. It will be noted that when these track members are in complete usable form they provide an upper groove or channel 32 and a lower groove or channel 34, the upper groove or channel 32 being deeper than the comparatively shallow lower channel. It will be evident, therefore, that with this construction the plate 10 can be easily angled into position. The desired clearance in the upper groove 32 enables the user to readily insert and remove the plate which, as is clear, is proportional and is accordingly di- 3 I: w mensioned so that the desired inserting and removing steps can be satisfactorily carried out. To be more specific, it will be evident that with the construction shown and described the plate can be taken out and replaced without having to slide it in'frorn-open ends of the two tracks or grooves.

-It will be evident that the type of character-plate employed provides the desired prismatic or third-dimension etfectsThe material which is used'is preferably butnot necessarily Uvex plastic. The employment of a silk screened process for applying ink to the clear plastic rectangular plate is regarded as'more desirable and capable of achieving the result intended than would be if the characters or letters'were raised or embossed or, as is often the case, formed and presented by properly delineated cutouts.

The foregoing description taken in conjunction with the illustrative, but not restrictive, views of the drawing should serve to afiFord the reader a clear understanding of the over-all signand the advantages derived from its use.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A sign comprising:

a substantially rigid, translucent, vertically corrugated backing panel having front and rear faces; elongated upper and lower transparent parallel sign mounting members spaced from each other in a common plane and secured substantially horizontally across the front face of the backing panel, each of the mounting members having a complementary plate-receiving groove, the grooves facing each other;

a plurality of rectangular transparent plates with a character placed on the rear surface of each plate, the character comprising a plane figure shaded and twotoned to give a three-dimensional effect, the plates being received within the grooves and the back surface of the plates being contiguous to the front face of the corrugated backing panel; and v the grooves of the upper mounting member being deeper than the grooves of the lower mounting rnember and having a depth sufficient to enable each plate to be moved upwardly and out of the lower groove and there being a plurality of corrugations per width of each plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 513,282 1/1894 Rodwell -140 570,313 10/1896 Lake 4014l 1,359,510 11/1920 Kornicker 40 1,887,591 11/1932 Fugita Q. 40140 2,501,084 3/1950 Ownbey 40--141 2,561,813 7/1951 Murphy 40140 2,607,144 8/1952 Harris 40-140 X 2,610,423 9/ 1952 Martin 401 3.2 2,624,967 1/1953 Phillippi 40-135 2,63 8,040 5/ 1953 Murphy 40140 3,028,700 4/ 1962 Faulkner 40140 FOREIGN PATENTS 553,965 11/1932 Germany.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

